Hill, Mary. Geology of the Sierra Nevada. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975. Even though it is more than 40 years old, this useful book is still of great interest to Tahoe hikers and travelers with inquiring minds who marvel at glacially sculpted wonders such as Emerald Bay, and the granitic and volcanic peaks surrounding Lake Tahoe. Multiple illustrations and photos help to explain the results of the forces of geology in action.
Konigsmark, Ted. Geologic Trips: Sierra Nevada. Mendocino, CA: Bored Feet Press, 2003. Written for the layman, this book interprets more than 100 of the most famous geologic landmarks in the Sierra Nevada, from Half Dome in Yosemite to Emerald Bay and Cave Rock at Lake Tahoe. It’s a fun read even for those who are geologically challenged.
Calabro, Marian. The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party. New York: Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin, 1999. For children who want to learn more about the tragedy of the Donner Party, this book tells the tale from the perspective of 13-year-old Donner Party survivor Virginia Reed. The author includes an epilogue on many of the party’s survivors and reprints in its entirety a letter written by Virginia after she was rescued. The book won a California Library Association Beatty Award for a young-adult book that promotes awareness of California history.
Dixon, Kelly J. Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology and History in Virginia City. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005. This scholarly but approachable account of the excavation of four historic saloon sites in Virginia City presents scientific evidence of what life was truly like in the great silver-mining era. Using historical photographs and maps and modern-day technology such as DNA analysis, the author’s research supports the theory that Western saloons were not as wild as legend leaves us to believe, but rather that they served an important and complex social role in their communities.
Donner Houghton, Eliza P. The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Originally published in 1911, this book was written by George Donner’s youngest daughter, Eliza, who was only four years old at the time of the Donner Party’s ill-fated journey. Her recollections were later substantiated by her older siblings and other survivors. She also recounts parts of her life story after the party’s rescue, detailing the difficulties of being known as a member of the infamous Donner family.
Frohlich, Robert. Mountain Dreamers: Visionaries of Sierra Nevada Skiing. Arnold, CA: Coldstream Press, 1997. Ski aficionados will enjoy this account of the development and promotion of ski resorts at Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and elsewhere around the Sierra. The story begins with the original 12-foot-long wooden skis, the first rope tows, and the introduction of the American public to skiing, and leads up to today’s high-tech equipment and megaresorts.
Frohlich, Robert, and S. E. Humphries. Skiing with Style: Sugar Bowl 60 Years. Arnold, CA: Coldstream Press, 1999. The story of one of the oldest and grandest ski resorts in the West is told in detail, complete with more than 100 black-and-white photographs and quotes from Sugar Bowl’s first investors, ski instructors, and managers. The focus of the book is on Hannes Schroll, the man who in the 1930s envisioned and created a European-style resort similar to those in his native Austria, but many other characters who played a part in Sugar Bowl’s history also are featured.
Landauer, Lyndall Baker. The Mountain Sea: A History of Lake Tahoe. Honolulu: Flying Cloud Press, 1996. Written by a respected historian and past editor of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society’s newsletter, this is the most complete version of Lake Tahoe’s history in print. For readers who wish to learn more about Tahoe’s resort era, the Comstock boom and subsequent development of roads around the lake, the grand steamships of the late 19th century, or the beginning of the gambling era, this hard-to-find book is the ultimate reference.
Lavender, David. Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party. New York: Holiday House, 1996. A kid-friendly book covering the chronicles of the ill-fated Donner Party, it also features dozens of black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Unlike many Donner Party books, this one focuses more on the overall dangers and hardships of emigrant travel than on the infamous Donner cannibalism, providing a more general description of the suffering endured by the pioneer wagon trains that crossed the Sierra Nevada in the mid-19th century.
Lekisch, Barbara. Embracing Scenes About Lakes Tahoe and Donner: Painters, Illustrators, and Sketch Artists, 1855-1915. Lafayette, CA: Great West Books, 2003. Providing an unusual take on Tahoe history, this book contains brief biographies, diary entries, and letters of more than 150 artists who drew their inspiration from the Tahoe region, including reproductions of their paintings, illustrations, and sketches.
Lekisch, Barbara. Tahoe Place Names: The Origin and History of Names in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Lafayette, CA: Great West Books, 1988. This is the book you need if you find yourself wondering what “Tallac” means (it is “Great Mountain,” and it’s the only mountain at Lake Tahoe that has a Washoe name) or pondering the origin of the moniker “Heavenly Valley” (it was a purely commercial invention, thought up by the ski resort’s marketing team). The book also serves as a great introduction to Tahoe’s long and varied history; for example, descriptions of Snowshoe Thompson’s remarkable feats are listed under the Thompson Peak entry. The January-February 1844 diary of Charles Preuss, who with explorer John Fremont was one of the first white men to see Lake Tahoe, is reprinted as an appendix.
McLaughlin, Mark. Sierra Stories: True Tales of Tahoe and Sierra Stories: True Tales of Tahoe Volume Two. Carnelian Bay, CA: Mic Mac Publishing, 1997 and 1998. Both books contain a series of short and fascinating biographies of some of Tahoe’s most interesting characters, including “Lucky” Baldwin, Nelly Bly, Mark Twain, D. L. Bliss, a ragtag assortment of miners, and the bold pioneer women of the West.
Mullen, Frank Jr. The Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-to-Day Account of a Doomed Wagon Train, 1846-1847. Reno: Nevada Humanities Committee, 1997. Of the dozens of books available on the Donner Party tragedy, this one also serves as a guide to present-day evidence of the Emigrant Trail, including color photographs of still-existing wagon ruts and landmarks. The author provides a day-by-day chronicle of the Donner Party’s travels from the Midwest to California, following the misleading route advice of an enterprising land speculator.
Oberding, Janice. Legends and Ghosts of the Lake Tahoe Area. Reno: Thunder Mountain Productions Press, 2004. Written by an expert on ghosts and paranormal activity, this volume tells the ghostly stories of Tahoe travelers and visitors, from the Donner Party to Marilyn Monroe. If you ever suspected that the Cal-Neva Resort or the Thunderbird Lodge might be haunted, this book is for you.
Scott, Edward B. The Saga of Lake Tahoe: A Complete Documentation of Lake Tahoe’s Development over the Last 100 Years. Antioch, CA: Sierra-Tahoe Publishing Company, 1957. Part history book and part photo collection, this volume documents Lake Tahoe’s history from 1857 to 1957, with nearly 300 photographs and a large foldout map of the lake. It includes authentic images of the Bonanza Trail, the Tahoe lumber industry, and the steamships and wooden vessels that once sailed Tahoe’s waters.
Stewart, George R. Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party. New York: Mariner Books, 1992. Written by a noted historian who taught for more than 50 years at the University of California, Berkeley, this book is considered to be the definitive history of the Donner Party’s trials. Stewart incorporates the survivors’ diaries and other historical documents into his account.
Strong, Douglas Hillman. Tahoe: An Environmental History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. The only book available that details Tahoe’s complex environmental problems and their historical origins, this book is a fascinating account of the damage done by 19th-century logging and farming and 20th-century urbanization, and the difficult political and scientific processes required to preserve the lake today.
Strong, Douglas Hillman. Tahoe: From Timber Barons to Ecologists. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. An environmental history of the Lake Tahoe area, this book tells the history of the region from its use by the indigenous Washoe people to the present. To whom does Tahoe belong, and how should the area be used? This book examines the struggle among contending forces with widely different answers to this question, and includes original photographs by local photographer Jim Hildinger.
Wheeler, Sessions, and William W. Bliss. Tahoe Heritage: The Bliss Family of Glenbrook, Nevada. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1997. More than a century ago, Duane L. Bliss, the namesake of the West Shore’s D. L. Bliss State Park, built a lumber empire on the shores of Lake Tahoe. This story tells Bliss’s enterprising saga, including his transition from lumber baron to railway builder to owner of the renowned Glenbrook Inn.
Arno, Stephen F. Discovering Sierra Trees. Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Association and Sequoia Natural History Association, 1973. Beautifully illustrated, this brief, 89-page tree guide gives thorough and easily digestible descriptions of 19 conifers and 17 broad-leaved trees of the Sierra. The author’s lyrical writing is a pleasure, even if you are far from the nearest Jeffrey pine or mountain hemlock.
Blackwell, Laird R. Wildflowers of the Tahoe Sierra: From Forest Deep to Mountain Peak. Redmond, WA: Lone Pine Publishing, 1997. This compact and indispensable wildflower guide, written by a Sierra Nevada College professor, details the common colorful blooms of the Tahoe basin. High-quality color photographs and descriptive text make it easy to identify more than 100 flowers, and the spiral-bound book is small enough to fit in a pocket or backpack.
Carville, Julie Stauffer. Hiking Tahoe’s Wildflower Trails. Redmond, WA: Lone Pine Publishing, 1989. A longtime resident of Tahoe, author Julie Carville shares her local knowledge about where to see the best wildflower displays. A combination hiking-trail book and wildflower field guide, this book describes in detail a variety of hikes for all ability levels and nearly 300 wildflowers that you may see along the trails. Featuring more than 100 illustrations and some color photos, this book was previously published by Mountain Gypsy Press and titled Lingering in Tahoe’s Wild Gardens: A Guide to Hundreds of the Most Beautiful Wildflower Gardens of the Tahoe Region.
Graf, Michael. Plants of the Tahoe Basin: Flowering Plants, Trees, and Ferns. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. Filled with hundreds of beautiful full-color photographs, this comprehensive guide covers more than 600 species of flowering plants, the majority being wildflowers. The book is organized taxonomically (alphabetized by scientific classification) rather than by flower color, which may prove challenging to beginners, yet is a great way to learn about plant families, genera, and species. For each flower, identification clues are provided, as well as notes on where in the Tahoe basin to find it.
Haulenbeek, Rod. Tree Adventures at Tahoe. Carnelian Bay, CA: Wide Eyed Publications, 1995. In this small self-published volume, the author takes readers on an intimate tour of Tahoe’s most interesting trees. The book serves as a personal travel companion, pointing out not just interesting facts about the trees but also the highways, towns, geology, and wildlife around them.
Horn, Elizabeth L. Sierra Nevada Wildflowers. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1998. Good photographs accompany descriptions of more than 300 species of flowering plants and shrubs. Unlike most flower-identification guides, this one is organized alphabetically by scientific classification (not by color of flower), which could prove problematic for novices. Still, the photographs and descriptions are useful, and the information is solid.
Laws, John Muir. Sierra Birds: A Hiker’s Guide. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books, 2004. Perfectly sized to fit in a hiker’s back pocket, this beautifully illustrated, thoroughly annotated, and uniquely arranged guide is one that anyone can use to identify birds in the Sierra Nevada. Includes over 200 species of birds, arranged by color and size.
Paruk, Jim. Sierra Nevada Tree Identifier. Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Association, 1997. This practical guide to the Sierra’s 20 conifers and 24 broad-leaved trees provides useful tips on tree identification as well as an interesting natural history of each species.
Stokes, Donald, and Lillian Stokes. Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1996. Utilizing more than 900 full-color photographs, the authors have created an unintimidating bird guidebook that is respected by novice and expert birders alike. General identification information is provided for each species, as well as feeding, nesting, and other characteristic behaviors.
Tekiela, Stan. Birds of California Field Guide. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, 2003. This pocket-size guide is easy to carry along the trail and includes gorgeous close-up photos of each bird. Although it is not as comprehensive as the Stokes guide, it’s a better choice for hikers and backpackers.
Wiese, Karen. Sierra Nevada Wildflowers. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 2000. This wildflower guide is loaded with clear, easy-to-see photographs of more than 230 wildflowers specific to the Sierra Nevada. In addition to the expected descriptive information, each listing includes an explanation of the flower’s genus or species name and other interesting facts.
Bonser, Carol, and R. W. Miskimins. Mountain Biking South Lake Tahoe’s Best Trails and Mountain Biking North Lake Tahoe’s Best Trails. Bishop, CA: Mountain Biking Press/Fine Edge Productions, 2002. These two slim volumes feature about 40 rides apiece in the South and North Shore areas. Although some of the information is outdated, the books serve as a good general guide to trail rides around the lake, and both include useful appendices on mountain-biking skills, bike maintenance, and roadside repairs.
Carville, Mike. Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 1999. More than 1,000 routes at a dozen major climbing areas around Lake Tahoe are described, including Donner Pass, the Truckee River Canyon, Christmas Valley, Echo Pass, Lover’s Leap, Phantom Spires, Eagle Creek Canyon, East Shore Crags, Sugarloaf, Pie Shop, and Indian Springs. Due to the 1999 publication date, some of the information is outdated (access roads have closed; regulations have changed), but the maps and cliff drawings are excellent. Bouldering, toproping, and ice climbing are also briefly covered.
Haggard, Stephen Rider. Fly Fishing the Tahoe Region. Truckee, CA: Aquabonita Books, 2002. Everything a fly-fishing angler needs to know to fish 77 streams and 97 lakes in the Desolation Wilderness, Truckee and Carson River drainages, and other Tahoe regions is in this book, including information on hatches, directions and access, nearby lodging and services, and angling regulations.
Hauserman, Tim. Cross-Country Skiing in the Sierra Nevada. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2007. Covering 13 cross-country ski resorts in California and Nevada, most near Lake Tahoe, this book has driving directions, a description of each resort’s offerings, information on trail passes and rental fees, and suggestions on accommodations. A general introduction to cross-country skiing and a wealth of how-to advice is included. The author is a certified cross-country ski instructor.
Hauserman, Tim. The Tahoe Rim Trail: The Official Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, and Equestrians. Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press, 2012. This third edition of the Tahoe Rim Trail guide was written with an enjoyable dose of humor. The book divides the 165-mile Rim Trail into eight segments, each described in detail, with attention paid to the needs of the trail’s three user groups: hikers, bikers, and horseback riders. Worthwhile side trips off the trail are also described. The author is a member of the Tahoe Rim Trail Board of Directors and has walked every inch of the trail.
Jackson, Lorene. Mountain Biking Lake Tahoe: A Guide to Lake Tahoe and Truckee’s Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 2006. Expert mountain biker Lorene Jackson describes her favorite routes, from easy cruising along the Emigrant Trail to hard-core technical rides on segments of the Tahoe Rim Trail. The ride descriptions include GPS-compatible trail maps and route profiles, mile-by-mile directional cues, difficulty ratings, average riding times, and best seasons to ride.
Jeneid, Michael. Adventure Kayaking from the Russian River to Monterey, Including Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, and Pyramid Lake. Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press, 1998. Although this book includes only two kayak tours in the Lake Tahoe area, it features accurate instructions on put-in sites, suggested paddle routes and campsites, notes on the presence of powerboats or picnickers, information on local birds and wildlife, and a detailed map for each route. Armchair readers will enjoy the author’s first-person kayaking anecdotes.
Libkind, Marcus. Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada: Lake Tahoe and Ski Tours in the Sierra Nevada: Carson Pass, Bear Valley, and Pinecrest. Glendale, CA: Bittersweet Publishing Company, 1995. With tours for every level of cross-country skier, from beginner to expert, these two books provide useful information for those who wish to kick and glide across dozens of routes around Lake Tahoe and Carson Pass. Each ski trail description includes clear directions to the starting and ending points, a topographic map, and ratings for overall difficulty, trail length, and elevation change.
McNamara, Chris. South Lake Tahoe Climbing. South Lake Tahoe, CA: Supertopo, 2004. This comprehensive rock-climbing guide to various sites near the South Shore (Christmas Valley, Echo Pass, Lover’s Leap, Phantom Spires, Wrights Lake) includes lots of interesting climbing history, as well as practical where-to and how-to information and gorgeous climbing photos.
Pike, Charlie. Paddling Northern California. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing, 2001. This kayaking guide contains only a smattering of Lake Tahoe tours, but it offers detailed maps with put-in information and trip landmarks, a useful introduction on how to prepare for a kayaking trip, and appendices of local paddling organizations and information resources.
Soares, Mark. Snowshoe Routes: Northern California. Seattle: The Mountaineers, 2002. Descriptions of 66 different snowshoe trails in Northern California, including Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta, Lassen Peak, Yosemite, and the Eastern Sierra. For each route the book shows total distance and time of hike, elevation, and difficulty levels from easy to strenuous. Clear maps are provided, with easy directions to trailheads and driving directions from major Northern California cities.
White, Michael. Snowshoe Trails of Tahoe. Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press, 2005. Now in its second edition, this book details 65 snowshoe trips in the Lake Tahoe area, complete with topographic maps of the routes. Each trip includes a difficulty rating, directions to the trailhead, and a detailed description of the route. The book begins with important tips on preparing for your snowshoe adventure, such as weather-watching, safety procedures, and equipment checklists.
Yesavage, Jerome. Desolation Wilderness: Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications, 1994. Hikers and backpackers who want to catch golden, rainbow, brook, and brown trout in the Desolation Wilderness will be pleased with this diminutive 64-page guide, which details more than 60 lakes. The book includes tips on what types of trout are found where and how to fish for them, plus where to find backpacking campsites (take the camping information with a grain of salt, however; the book is quite old, and many regulations have changed). The author is active in CalTrout (a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving trout habitat) and an avid fly fisher.
Bachand, Thomas. Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008. With an introduction by Dr. Charles R. Goldman, founder and director of the Tahoe Research Group at UC Davis, this landscape-format book of 80 stunning color plates captures the sublime beauty of the lake while also illustrating its fragility, as a result of development and global warming. The book also includes some of Carlton Watkins’s early photographs of the lake.
Bell, Jim. Tahoe’s Gilded Age: A Photographic Portfolio from 1881-1919 and Memories of Tahoe: A Photographic Portfolio from 1920-1959. Carnelian Bay, CA: Publishers Press, 2005. These two books of historical photographs were compiled by local Tahoe City photographer Jim Bell. The history of development and life at Lake Tahoe from the 1880s to the late 1950s is chronicled in these pages. Each book begins with a spirited narrative of the times, written by Chaco Mohler of Tahoe City.
Cameron, Robert, and Warren Lerude. Above Tahoe and Reno: A New Collection of Historical and Original Aerial Photographs. San Francisco: Cameron and Company, 1995. One in a series of aerial photography books by Robert Cameron, this coffee-table book focuses not just on the natural beauty of Lake Tahoe and its environs but also the manufactured marvels of bustling Reno, Nevada.
Goin, Peter. Lake Tahoe: Images of America. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. This black-and-white photo collection is filled with historical images from Lake Tahoe’s past, with accompanying commentary on each image.
Goin, Peter, and C. Elizabeth Raymond. Stopping Time: A Rephotographic Survey of Lake Tahoe. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. This book puts Tahoe history in perspective. Photographer Peter Goin juxtaposes more than 100 of his modern-day photographs of the lake and its surrounding landscape with 19th-century archived photographs, creating a visual record of Tahoe’s evolution. Writer Elizabeth Raymond supplies the historical text and photo captions.
Paul, Jon. Visions of Lake Tahoe. South Lake Tahoe, CA: Jon Paul Gallery, 2005. Visit this photographer’s gallery in South Lake Tahoe, and you will surely want to take home this book of breathtaking images of the lake basin. There’s almost no text in this book at all; the beautiful pictures speak for themselves.
Pesetski, Larry. A Journey to Lake Tahoe and Beyond. Sierra Vista Publications, 2005. This coffee-table book of stunning color images shows Tahoe in all four seasons and at all hours of the day. Many close-ups of plants and animals are also included.
Scott, E. B. The Saga of Lake Tahoe, Volumes I and II. Antioch, CA: Sierra Tahoe Publishing, 1957 and 1973. These two volumes combine to create a detailed pictorial history of Lake Tahoe, featuring hundreds of Scott’s black-and-white photographs.